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[dirk]

Here are some examples of open statements using the three-argument form,
the module Carp for error handling and the module English.

Carp - warn of errors (from perspective of caller)
English - use nice English (or awk) names for ugly punctuation variables

When the modul English is loaded we can use the variable $OS_ERROR instead of $!.

Code:

use Carp;
use English;

my $filename = 'myfile.txt';

# read
open my $INPUT, '<', $filename or croak "Can't open '$filename': $OS_ERROR";
...
close $INPUT;

# write
open my $OUTPUT, '>', $filename or croak "Can't open '$filename': $OS_ERROR";
...
close $OUTPUT;

# append
open my $OUTPUT, '>>', $filename or croak "Can't open '$filename': $OS_ERROR";
...
close $OUTPUT;

[Bompa]

cool, will try.

[dirk]

For opendir the two argument form is still used.

Below is an example of opening a sub directory.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Carp;
use English;

my $dir    = 'stats/';
my $subdir = '2007/';

opendir my $DIR, $dir . $subdir
    or croak "Can't open directory: $OS_ERROR";

# do something

close $DIR;

exit;

The next version is also working:

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Carp;
use English;

my $dir    = 'stats';
my $subdir = '2007';

opendir my $DIR, $dir . '/' . $subdir
    or croak "Can't open directory: $OS_ERROR";

# do something

close $DIR;

exit;

In the third example the variables $dir and $subdir are empty.
One would  assume that this triggers the error message.

But the script is running without any error message. It simply
opens the "/" directory (the root directory) which is available
on every server.

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
use Carp;
use English;

my $dir    = '';
my $subdir = '';

opendir my $DIR, $dir . '/' . $subdir
    or croak "Can't open directory: $OS_ERROR";

# do something

close $DIR;

exit;

Ok, why should someone define empty variables? Normally that's not the case.
But if the variables are assigned dynamically in a complex script this can happen.

So it's better to use the first version with the trailing slash.

[perkiset]

Dirk that is by far the most readable and easy PERL I've ever seen.

I love the direction you're going because it's a great place to start - may I ask that MUCH LATER perhaps you do a little something on idiosyncratic PERL programming and the various ways that experts avoid typing...? After a stronger understanding of the language that would probably assist hugely as well.

Awesome stuff,
/p

[dirk]

Ed, yes, later I will write something about the weird stuff: "write once, read never".

Specially I like complex hash and array structures

[perkiset]

"write once, read never"

WORN code I love it!